Mower and harvester.



No. 828,404. 4 I PATENT-JED AUG. 14, 1906.

' H. L. HOPKINS..

' MOWER AND HARVESTER.

-APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 19, 1905.-

nucnfoz- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY L. HOPKINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HOPKINS PATENT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MOWER AND HARVESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 14, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARVEY L. HoPKrNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowers and Harvesters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in knife-clips for reaper and mower cutters, the devices by which the knives and sickle-bar are held in proper position in relation to the opposing cutting parts.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a part of the cutting apparatus of a mowing-machine embodying my improvements. Fig. '2 is a cross-section ofthe same on the line as a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the springs detached and of the parts connected therewith. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the parts in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side View of the toe piece for the spring. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the toe-piece represented in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 5, drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 8 is a sectional View taken on the dotted line as, Fig. 4.

In the drawings, a indicates the finger-bar; b, the cutter-bar; c, the guards, and cl the cutters or knife-sections, that are secured to the cutter or knife bar by rivets e. The parts just referred to maybe of any preferred construction, and no particular description of them in detail is necessary, as they are now well understood, and the present improvement is applicable to any of the many forms of cutting apparatus. I prefer, however, to have some of the cutters or knife-sections (1 formed or provided with retainingdevices d to hold or assist in holding in place the toepieces or shoes of the clip-spring.

f indicates the usual wearing-plate, which is seated upon the finger-bar and has its front edge flush with the front edge of the bar. Upon this wearing-plate is placed the clip bracket plate or holder, which is fastened in position by means of bolts g, passing through the bracket, the wearing-plate, and the finger-bar. This bracket or holder h is ap roximately rectangular in form when 100 red at in plan, as in Fig. 1, and has a lip t extending well forward, so as to overhang the cutter-section d. This overhanging lip is concave, as shown at t, to provide clearance for the head of the rivet e. At the rear edge, and preferably at the center, longitudinally, the clip bracket or plate 1 is provided with an upwardly-extending arm l, which is turned forward, so as to have a finger Z, provided at its front end with a sharp knife-edge 1*.

At 0 there is an aperture extending through the plate h, and the front wall of this aperture has a V-shaped recess or knife-edge bearing at 0.

The spring which I have devised is shown detached in Figs. 3 and 4 and is indicated as a whole by m. At its rear end it has a leg it, formed with an inclined portion n and a downwardly-extended part n There is a backward-turned loop n with a bearingsurface at n, and from this the spring rod or wire extends forward, as shown at a The central part of the spring may be coiled upon itself, as indicated at p, and the forward-extending part is carried out from the coil in such way that it shall lie in substantially the same vertical plane as the rear part n. A reinforcing-socket or wearing-block constituting a rocking journal-piece is interposed between the spring and the plate h. It consists of a small piece of metal 1", having a groove at r at the upper end on the front side, a groove r at the lower end on the rear side, and an aperture r extending through it at the ends of the grooves. At g there is formed a V-shaped recess or bearing to receive the knife-edge Z and at g there is formed a knife-edge adapted tofit into the bearing-recess, 0. I11 the front end of the spring there is formed a loop or eye It. This is loosely engaged with a wearin and pressure shoe u. The latter is preferab y made originally in the way shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. It has a base '0, which in plan outline is pref erably approximately triangular, the toe 1; extending forward and the heel-line 12 being normally parallel with the lines of reciprocation of the cutter bar. It has a cavity or socket at 11 there being a projection v at the rear and a relatively long projection 12 in front of the socket. The bottom of the socket is rounded or beveled, as shown at v in Fig. 7. The hinge or pivot part if of the spring loop t is placed in this socket 42 and the front projection o is bent down over it, 'as shown in Fig. 6, to hold it in place. This shoe it rests upon one of the cutters and is placed between the two lugs or stops (1, above referred to. The base part of the shoe is extended somewhat, as shown at '0 Fig. 6, back of the vertical line of the hinge part if. With devices of this character several important results are attained. By elongating the shoe toward the rear, as shown at 12 the pressure of the springis thrown relatively forward in such way that the toe part c is prevented from being thrown up. The socket v and the part t of the spring-loop that lies therein are elongated transversely of the shoe to such an extent as to prevent it from twisting sidewise or turning up around longitudinal lines and from riding upon its edge. At the same time it will be observed that the connection is such that the shoe is capable of universal motion relative to the spring eye, and consequently it can seat itself under all circumstances flatly upon the knife-section, even though the top surface of the latter be not exactly horizontal. If the departure from horizontalism demands that the toe part or the heel part of the shoe should rise it can readily do so, or, on the other hand, if the departure from horizontalism is in the other direction, the rounded surface 2) permits the shoe to adapt itself to the top surface. Consequently no fine grass or trash can displace the shoe from its seat by crowding under it. The sprin m is with respect .to the loop of materia ly difierent from the clip-springs heretofore used or proosed for this purpose, one form of the earier springs being shown in Letters Patent No. 718,351, dated January 13, 1903, granted to me. In a spring of that earlier sort the wire between the coil (corresponding to that at p) and the journal part 1" was bent in such a way as to be approximately U-shaped in effectthat is to say, it was carried first upward and then downward, the two vertical legs being one in front of the other. Experience has shown that a clip-spring formed in that way has serious disadvantages incident to it, particularly this that when it is to be detached from the machine the front end is first drawn upward to lift it away from the cutter and is then turned laterally in order to permit the detachment of the journal part or wearing part at r, and when the spring is to be replaced these steps are reversed. In such cases the wires of the leg parts of the U-loop are separated or opened during the bending action, and the result is that the spring is rapidly weakened, soon refuses to resume its normal shape, and loses its elasticity. In the present construction this is obviated by giving to the spring at the rear end the loop-like bend indicated at n instead of a U-bend-that is to say, the legs here cross each other and when the front end of the spring is lifted up it tends to draw the parts of the loop a together rather than to separate them, making the loop tighter. The elasticity of the spring is thereby retained and it is made more eflicient. In practice I have found that a clip-spring of this character retains its desired shape and its resiliency practically indefinitely. I prefer to so arrange this loop part a that one of its legs extends down to and forms or is connected with the lower part of the journal element, while the other side part or leg is turned, as at n, to provide or to connect with the upper part of the journal element, thus insuring that whatever bending of the wire results from upward movement of the front end of the spring shall be finally experienced in the loo itself; but I do not wish to limit myself in tldis respect to the details shown.

By shaping the wire of the spring in the way described, I provide what may, in effect, be considered as two coils or sets of coilsone at p and one at a These are of differing torsional strengths, the coil or coils of the loop a being weaker than those at p, the consequence being that when the forward end of the spring is lifted up there will be more yielding permitted in the weaker coil or loop at n than in that at p.

What I claim is 1. In the cutting apparatus for a harvester or mower, the combination with the reciprocating cutter-sections and the relatively stationary support therefor, of a vibrating spring having its free end arranged to bear upon and reciprocate with one of the cuttersections, and a pressure-block bearing upon a cutter-section and connected to the spring, said pressure-block being adapted to occupy while in operative position either of several angles relative to a horizontal plane, substantially as set forth.

2. In the cutting apparatus for a harvester or mower, the combination with the reciprocating cutter-sections and the relatively stationary support therefor, of a vibrating spring having its free end adapted to bear upon and reciprocate with one of the cuttersections, and a wearing-block contacting with a cutter-section, and connected with the spring by a-substantially universal joint, substantially as set forth.

3. In the cutting apparatus for a harvester or mower, the combination with the reciprocating cutter-sections and the relatively stationary support therefor, of a vibrating free end of the spring, such socket being arranged between the heel and the toe of the shoe, substantially as set forth.

4. In the cutting apparatus for a harvester or mower, the combination with the reciprocating cutter-sections and the relatively stationary support therefor, of a vibrating spring having one end arranged to bear upon and reciprocate with one of the cutter-sections, and the wearing block or shoe interposed between the spring and a cutter-section and loosely connected with the former, and means for limiting the movement of the wearing block or shoe about a vertical axis and relative to the spring, substantially as set forth.

5. In the cutting apparatus for a harvester or mower, the combination with the reciproeating cutter-sections and the relatively stationary support therefor, of a vibrating spring adapted to have one end bear upon and reciprocate with one of the cutter-sec.- tions, and the wearing block or shoe interposed between the spring and a cutter-section, and adapted, while in operation, to rock to a limited extent around a horizontal aXis transverse to the line of cutter reciprocation, substantially as set forth.

6. In the cutting apparatus for a harvester or mower, the combination with the reciprocating cutter-sections and the relatively stationary support therefor, of a vibrating spring adapted to have its front end bear upon and reciprocate with one of the cuttersections, and the wearing block or shoe interposed between the spring and a cutter-section, and adapted to rock around an aXis parallel to the line of reciprocation of the cutters, substantially as set forth.

7. In a knife-clip for mowers, the combination with the cutter and the finger-bar, of a spring interposed between them bearing on the cutter and having a journal part engaged with the finger-bar and two coil elements between the journal part and the cutter, these coil elements being arranged at different positions longitudinally of the spring and having different torsional strengths, substantially as set forth.

8. In a knife-clip for mowers, the combination with the cutter, and the finger-bar, of a spring, bearing at one end on the cutter,

. andat the other end having a bearing on the 9. In a knife-clip for mowers, the combination with the cutter, and the finger-bar, of a spring bearing at one end on the cutter and at the other end having a loop formed by crossing one part of the spring overanother .part, the loop and one of the crossed parts having engagement with a journal element having a bearing on the finger-bar, substantially as set forth.

10. In a knife-clip for mowers, the combination with the cutter, and the finger-bar, of a spring arranged to bear downwardly on the cutter and provided with a journal 1", having a rocking engagement with the finger-bar, said spring having the coil 1) and a supplemental loop or coil between the coil p and said journal r, substantially as set forth.

11. In a knife-clip for mowers, the combination with the cutter, and the fingerbar, of the spring arranged to bear down on the cutter and a ournal r engaging with the fingerbar, said spring being formed with the coil 19 and having the spring-wire behind said coil bent so that one part crosses another to form a loop, one of the crossing parts engaging with the lower part of the journal 1", and the loop engaging with the upper part of the journal, substantially as set forth.

12. In a cutting apparatus for a harvester or a mower, the combination with the reciprocating cutter-sections and the relatively stationary support therefor, of a vibrating spring having its free end arranged to hold down one of the cutter-sections and to reciprocate therewith, the spring having the main coiled portion that tends to force its outer end toward the cutter-section, and having a second coiled portion arranged longitudinally between the main coiled portion and the held end of-the spring, the coil of the second spring being so arranged as to be tightened when the outer end of the spring is moved away from the cutter-section, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARVEY L. HOPKINS. Witnesses:

CHARLES H. POPE, H. H. BLISS. 

